Reinventing the Drive-Thru: How Omilia’s Voice AI is Fueling the Next Era of QSR Efficiency

Fast food was built on speed, but today, the quick service restaurant (QSR) industry is facing mounting pressure to deliver not just fast, but frictionless experiences. With drive-thrus accounting for nearly 70% of QSR sales in the U.S.¹, the window is both the frontline of customer experience and the biggest opportunity for innovation. Long wait times, incorrect orders, and overwhelmed staff remain persistent pain points.

Enter voice AI – a transformational technology now at the heart of next-gen QSR operations. And leading that transformation is Omilia, whose advanced conversational AI is not only reimagining drive-thrus, but proving at scale that automation can be more human than humans.

Why the Drive-Thru Is Ripe for Disruption

The QSR industry is navigating a delicate balancing act: meet rising customer expectations while managing acute labor shortages. The National Restaurant Association reports that 62% of operators say they don’t have enough employees to support demand². Meanwhile, consumers are demanding seamless, tech-enabled interactions. A 2023 Deloitte study found that 81% of diners prefer using technology in their ordering journey³.

Voice AI offers a compelling solution by automating the repetitive task of order-taking, reducing human error, and unlocking labor to focus on higher-value activities like food prep and customer service.

But to succeed in the chaotic, noisy, and time-sensitive world of the drive-thru, voice AI must go beyond basic voice recognition. That’s exactly where Omilia shines.

Case in Point: Taco Bell’s Voice-Driven Transformation

Taco Bell, a brand known for bold innovation, turned to Omilia to modernize its drive-thru operations across the U.S. As most of Taco Bell’s customer interactions occur at the drive-thru, they needed a solution that could handle complexity – from diverse accents to real-time menu changes – while improving both the employee and customer experience⁴.

Omilia’s Voice AI Solution was piloted at five locations, tested under real-world conditions, and rapidly scaled to over 650 Taco Bell stores by June 2025. The results are game-changing:

90%+ successful order containment at top-performing sites, meaning customers complete their orders with the AI agent without needing human intervention
10%+ increase in check size due to dynamic upselling based on real-time context
Decreased employee turnover at locations using the Voice AI Solution, suggesting improved staff morale and reduced burnout
Order speed on par or better than human agents, eliminating the common tradeoff between automation and efficiency

According to Dane Mathews, Taco Bell’s Chief Digital & Technology Officer, “Tapping into AI gives us the ability to ease team members’ workloads, freeing them to focus on front-of-house hospitality. It also enables us to unlock new and meaningful ways to engage with our customers”.

Behind the Tech: What Makes Omilia Different

Omilia’s AI isn’t just speech recognition – it’s conversational intelligence. The platform features:

Proprietary deep neural network ASR that delivers zero-latency speech-to-text conversion
Advanced noise filtering to isolate voices in loud environments
Natural language understanding (NLU) that interprets intent, not just words
Real-time menu adaptation, accounting for stock, regional variations, and limited-time offers

This makes the system highly adaptable, accurate, and scalable — a critical requirement for franchise-heavy brands like Taco Bell that operate across thousands of locations.

Perhaps most importantly, the solution is entirely cloud-based, meaning it requires no in-store hardware changes and can be deployed at speed – whether to one store or one thousand.

A Win-Win-Win for Operators, Employees, and Customers

What makes Omilia’s approach so impactful is that it doesn’t merely reduce costs, it enhances the entire ecosystem:

For Operators: Increased throughput, better order accuracy, and higher average checks
For Employees: Less stress and greater focus on value-added hospitality
For Customers: A fast, friendly, and conversational ordering experience that feels effortless

As labor markets tighten and consumer expectations rise, the brands that thrive will be those that embrace intelligent automation not as a gimmick, but as a core operating pillar. Omilia’s work with Taco Bell proves that voice AI can deliver measurable business impact without compromising, and often enhancing the human touch.

The Future of the Drive-Thru Is Here

Voice AI is no longer a concept for the future; it’s a live, scalable, and proven reality in the QSR space. With over 650 Taco Bell deployments and counting, Omilia is setting the standard for what modern drive-thru automation can achieve.

In an industry where seconds matter and smiles sell, Omilia is helping QSRs turn every interaction into an intelligent, brand-building experience.

Footnotes